


wie ein schmetterling

by dogmat



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Slavery, Spoilers, Titan Shifters, canon? I think?, gods?, implied rape, not god au tho, semi-personality disorder, the king is a monster, ymir and the king, ymir/eren if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:40:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26189650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogmat/pseuds/dogmat
Summary: Even as a child, Eren was notorious for being mature for his age. Regardless of eyes that sparkled brighter than the most expensive jewels in the interior and the hotheaded impulsiveness he showed, his expression never held a hint of childish naivety, and a single glance at the brunet made it obvious that there was a lack of the typical childish behavior. However, if one knew what he had seen, then maybe they would understand.Or: Eren meets Ymir in the Paths every night and has her memories. From there, the story begins.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 152





	wie ein schmetterling

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Slavery, implied rape (between the king and ymir), and vague description.
> 
> I squeezed this out today and like all my other fics, it's a jumbled mess, but I did make some effort to write it better (for once). There is a semi-epilogue on my A/N at the end which explains absolutely NOTHING by the way.
> 
> Also! Instead of page breaks, I put in some lyrics ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) it doesn't make sense that much, but think of it as Ymir/Eren's thoughts at some point.
> 
> Lastly, the title means: Like a Butterfly (or at least google told me, and it said "community-verified" and we all know how much google sucks, but it was all I had)

_Don’t think of anything. Don’t say anything, not even a word._

A god has to start with a blank slate.

A god has no will.

A god can’t create a world on their own.

_Just give me a smile._

For Eren, he never questioned the strange memories nor the lifelike dreams that took place every night.

The memories were always partially empty, like a blanket of darkness had covered the recollection. Not all of them were, though. In contrast, there were memories that were clear as day but none of them were happy ones. The chains, the slavery, and the water that cocooned him, and the sparks of lightning that burned his? Her? Skin. 

The chains chafted, the arrows hurt, the burns pounded.

Most of all, he was cold.

Even basking in the sun, he shivered at the memory of the freezing water.

On the other hand, his dreams were tranquil. Like unmoving flat water, the lifelike dreams were uneventful and the setting never changed. The same humongous tree that expanded its branches into the inky sky, the neverending white soil, and the girl in rags who was always building something from afar.

One night, tired of the harmonious atmosphere, Eren mustered up all the courage his five-year-old self had--which wasn’t very much--and approached the blonde girl. The girl never faltered in her sculpting and gave no indication at his advance.

Eren stopped right behind the girl and his small fingers fidgeted with the ends of his shirt. Tentatively, he said, “Hello?”

There was only a brief pause, her hands stopping for a minuscule second before resuming.

Eren mimicked the girl’s pose, lowering his body to sit across the sculpting girl. Curious, he asked, “What are you building?”

No answer.

“Can you speak?”

Nothing.

Eren bit his lip in frustration as the girl continued as if he didn’t exist. His eyes moved from the girl’s face and landed on her hands instead, opting to stare at the deft hands, moving with familial grace that delicately sculpted a detailed hand from the white soil. 

Mustering up all of the remaining courage he had left, he asked, “Can I help?”

_I still can’t believe it. All of it seems like a dream._

As the years went by, Eren and the girl--Ymir--began a friendship. Or, Eren decided that they were friends. He learned that Ymir couldn’t speak. Inflicted or born that way, she never elaborated and Eren never delved deeper. He also learned that the memories he saw belonged to his new friend. Cursed to be a slave that worked for others, he found himself hating those who took away other’s freedom. Hence, he hated the walls.

He hated the people who lived with content within the walls and he hated the king that prevented Ymir’s freedom. 

That’s why, in order for Ymir to feel free, even if it was only a little, Eren touched the soil—sand, he learned—and began to sculpt with her, lessening the burden. If the ones he had a hand in looked ugly and misshapen, his friend never mentioned it.

One day, Eren found himself saying, “That stupid guy’s dead. You’re free. Do whatever you’d like.” Inside, he knew that it was a futile endeavor, knowing that it was impossible that the words of a nobody could free her, but he found himself happy when Ymir sported a smile on her face.

Even if she wasn’t free now, Eren swore to free her one day.

_Don’t try to disappear._

By the time he met Armin and was told of the outside world, Eren knew how Ymir’s life went. The memory blanks were still there, presenting him with memories far in between each other, but he never minded. He had a vague idea of what happened, anyways.

Ymir’s earliest memories were still a mystery as if someone had locked them away, leaving him with the earliest memory being the incident where the king gathered all the slaves, asking who had freed the pig.

The memory never failed to ignite an ugly rage within Eren, not even with the phantom pains of the arrows penetrating his skin lessened it, as he remembered the desperation Ymir had felt when she ran in the forest after being mocked by his-her own master. His recollection became a bit hazy afterward, ending completely at the scene where Ymir fell into the freezing waters.

The blanks became common after the fall and all Eren knew were the thirteen years of pain under the hands of her master and the death that followed when she died protecting the disgusting king.

The actions of the disgusting king left a sour taste in his mouth and Eren vowed to kill anyone who was like him.

_Is it true? Is it true?_

Eren first killed a man when his father had taken him to the interior due to a housecall, and although it was an accident, Eren found himself isolated, his father nowhere to be found. Unfortunately enough, the people of the interior seemed to have no qualms sneering at his townsfolk attire and he eventually moved away from the bustling streets and into a deserted area.

While looking for his father, Eren was met with a gruesome sight. It was a sight he had seen numerous times in Ymir’s memories, and it was also a sight he absolutely hated.

_Ymir trembling in front of the king…_

_Her silent plea for help…_

_And the light that left her eyes permanently…_

Eren’s body had moved on its own, reaching the secluded alleyways, and delivering a kick, too strong to belong to a child of his stature. Yet, the undeniable truth was there. It did belong to him.

A knife, stolen from the man’s hands, and returned not a second later, straight into his heart.

Panting as the adrenaline left his body, Eren turned to the trembling woman behind him. Her beaded eyes swam in fear as the boy--with the impossibly glowing yellow eyes and the slit pupil--adverted his attention from the corpse and turned to her. Clutching her ruined dress to her chest to preserve the little modesty she had left, she stiffly dragged her body backward until she hit the wall.

Eren was the first to speak. He asked, “Are you okay, Missus?”

The woman jumped in her spot, jerking her head around to see if anyone was around. Hesitantly, she turned back and nodded at the young boy.

She stumbled over her words. “T-tha-thank y-you.”

The light returned to the boy’s eyes, and if she hadn’t seen the child stab the man with deadly precision, she would have been fooled at how innocent he looked with his doe-like green eyes and the childish face that stared back at her.

Eren cracked a smile. “I’m glad,” he said with relief. “I was scared that it was too late.”

Somehow, the woman found herself smiling back at the boy despite the circumstances.

_Will you stay by my side?_

Ymir had known that she would be free one day. Just not _when_. That’s why she waited. She spread her hope out, whether it was the titan who fought for freedom that could see the future, or the countless Eldians she sculpted with her will. No matter, she patiently waited for 2,000 years until a boy appeared one day.

The boy she created.

Ymir ignored him, though, giving no indication that she noticed his arrival. She learned to not get her hopes up. Yet, the boy approached.

And freed her.

“Are you going to continue to build, even if you’re free?”

She couldn’t stop the relief that overcame her when she saw the invisible chains loosen from her wrist and wrap around the kind boy instead.

_Will you promise me?_

Eren’s next kill was when he was nine.

Similar to the previous time, his father took him to one of the housecalls. Apparently, there was a girl of the same age, and Grisha, the worried father he was, wanted Eren to become friends with her.

Grisha glanced at his son, “Her name’s Mikasa and she’s around the same age as you,” he paused, then said, “I really hope you two get along.”

Eren buried his face in his red scarf, huffing as he averted his green eyes away from his father. “Depends on her attitude,” he muttered. Really, he had no need for other friends. He had Ymir and Armin and he wasn’t greedy. It was confusing at why he would want more when two was obviously enough. Then again, his father had no idea who Ymir was.

Grisha gave his son a look before turning back to the wooden cabin. “This is why you have no friends,” he stated bluntly.

Ouch.

Eren glared at his father, a retort on the tip of his tongue when his father knocked on the door loudly.

“Mr. Ackerman? Mrs. Ackerman? It’s Dr. Yeager!” Grisha called out. 

Nothing prepared him for the sight that he was about to see.

_If I let go of your hand, you’ll fly away and break._

A knife to the throat and numerous stab wounds. 

A single blade to the heart.

The Military Police stared at the two children with apprehension, knowing that they had been the ones who killed the three men. Eren couldn’t find himself to feel any guilt.

They were animals after all. 

Animals like the king deserved to be put down.

However, those like Ymir deserved to receive the utmost care. 

That’s why, when Mikasa stared at the ground, shivering, as she pulled the oversize coat over her shoulders, Eren unwrapped his red scarf.

A faint pink dusted over his cheeks when he crudely enveloped the scarf on to the shivering girl, and he asked, “Is it warm?”

Mikasa stared at the red scarf for a moment, the light returning in her eyes as she nodded, letting out a soft, “Mn.”

_I’m scared of that._

Armin had known that there was something peculiar about Eren ever since they’d met. At first, he summed it up as the difference between a doctor’s son and a common child, but it soon became glaringly obvious that it wasn’t the case.

At times, Eren would show inhuman strength, and his eyes would change. Not a metaphorical sense, but in a literal way where his pupils would become slitted and his green eye turned amber like a rabid beast. More often than not, the display would scare Armin whenever the eyes turned his way, but he couldn’t find himself to regret the decision of becoming friends with the brunet. After all, similar people attract, right?

It wasn’t long before the two turned into three with Eren introducing a new friend.

“Her name’s Mikasa,” Eren explained.

Mikasa touched the red scarf that was wrapped around her neck and nodded. “Nice to meet you,” she said.

_Will you stop time?_

Eren stared at the key in his hands.

The same key that his father had shown before Shiganshina had fallen.

And his father… who…

_“Go to the basement, Eren! Even if it’s not now, you must go!” Grisha’s voice yelled inside him._

_“Let the boy breathe, Grisha,” Kruger chided._

_Frieda giggled and Uri laughed softly._

Ymir had been kind enough to supply Eren with information after discovering the strange voices and the copious lifetimes of memories in his head. 

His father was not from the walls.

Humanity had never ended.

His father was a Titan shifter, and the power was passed down to him.

He had two of the nine Titan powers, and they originally belonged to Ymir.

For some reason, an exception was made for him by Ymir, and he could use the Founding Titan now.

Lastly, the previous holders of the two Titans now crowded his mind.

“Ack-” Eren bit out, scratching his head. “Please, _shut up_.”

They did.

_If this moment passes as though it hadn’t happened._

It wasn’t long before the missing memories appeared in his mind. Like an unraveling string, the recollections cleared one by one in chronicle order, putting an end to the questions he had for many years.

When Ymir had fallen into the freezing waters, she became the first Titan.

When Ymir became the first Titan, the king forced her to bear his children.

When Ymir transformed, she followed every order the king said.

When the spear was shot, Ymir protected the king.

When Ymir died, the king ordered his daughters to eat her corpse.

The anger towards the king returned tenfold and he found himself hugging Ymir after the memories were revealed, whispering soothing words and apologies, feeling empathy for the pain she went through.

_From afar, I steal glances; if we touch hands, will I lose you?_

Nothing prepared him for the embarrassing moment where he plummeted to the ground during the omni-directional gear tests. Falling face forwards and hitting the ground with a resonating _crack_ , Eren hissed in pain while trying to block out the sounds of laughter that came from his predecessors.

_“Classic!”_

_“That was comical!”_

_Frieda, the every-caring person, worryingly asked, “Are you okay? I heard a crack!”_

_“Bah! He’s a Titan!”_

_“He’ll be fine,” said Kruger calmly._

At least it was his broken gear instead of an actual balance problem.

_You shine in this pitch darkness that is the butterfly effect._

Months had passed and the 104th, who had known that Eren was strange, found out that Eren was no doubt the strangest of all strange. Not the strange bouts of inhuman strength, and certainly not the medical knowledge he claimed to have learned from his late father, but the absolutely peculiar personality switches that many of the trainees encountered.

Normally, Eren was a rather calm person. HIs strange wisdom and the expression as if he had experienced everything as off-putting at first, labeling him as the silent type until they were met with his anger.

When he was angry, there was always a strange gleam in his eyes. 

When talking about Titans, he always seemed sad.

However, when the strange personality switches became obvious, the 104th could see clear discrepancies between each personality, convincing them that there was something obviously wrong.

At times, Eren had the speech of a noble. 

Other times, Eren talked like an exhausted battle-hardened warrior.

And most of all, Eren sometimes acted as if he was a girl. This was the strangest of them all. His eyes would turn silver-ish blue, and his whole demeanor would change. His expression always morphed into a kind smile and more often than not, the Trainees found themselves seeing this Eren becoming overbearing towards Krista.

Not that Krista minded, though. It reminded her of her sister, Frieda.

_Your light touches and I forget the reality at once._

Bertolt paused in his conversation with Reiner, his eyes landing on the green-eyed boy who was burrowing himself into bed. Surprised, he asked, “You’re going to sleep?” 

The other boys looked up and turned their heads to the brunet in question. The boy simply dove deeper under the covers and his muffled voice said, “I’m sleepy.”

Closing his eyes, Eren eventually opened them to the familiar setting. The skies were brighter today, Eren noted as he hurried over to the blonde girl. 

“I’m back!” said Eren.

Ymir raised her head and gazed at the taller boy, a small smile perched on her delicate face as Eren began to build with her. His skill in sculpting had gotten better over the years and the ones he helped build no longer looked like misshapen defects.

Her eyes wandered over to the brunet’s thin wrists, wondering if he had known the extent of his actions, that he would regret freeing her. Without a doubt, the invisible shackles were no doubt there, the strange lightness of her own hands still alien after 2,000 years of being chained.

_It’s like wind that gently strokes me._

_“-ack!”_

_“I told you to dodge! I told you. To dodge!”_

_“Maria, shush. Eren can’t concentrate with us yelling all the time,” Grisha told the woman._

Eren rubbed the back of his head. “Wow,” he breathed. In a second, he got back up, the earlier pain gone as he looked at his partner with awe.

Annie blinked at the sudden movement, jumping back just in time before Eren stood back up, seemingly unperturbed by her earlier technique.

“Teach me how to do that!” 

_“Child,_ please _.”_

_“Grisha, did you not raise your son with manners?”_

Eren paused. “ _Please_ teach me how to do that,” he rectified. 

Annie stared back at him for another second before looking away. A soft sound emitted from her lips as her bangs covered her expression, leaving Eren confused as to what Annie was doing.

_“Laughing,” Frieda stated. “She’s laughing.”_

“It won’t help with Titans,” she said.

Eren nodded. “I’m going to use it on Jean.” Lies. Wait, maybe he _could_ use it on Jean. Heaven knows that he’s annoying. Even _Frieda_ was exasperated at the Horseface. Frieda. Truthfully, he was going to use it just in case he needed to fight as a Titan. Not that he transformed yet, though.

_“You need to get used to it, Eren.”_

_“Go to some secluded area,” Kruger supplied. “It’ll help to learn some coordination.”_

Annie sighed. She said, “Alright.”

The rest of the day was spent with laugher--in his mind--as he was continuously flipped over by the smaller girl.

_It’s like a dust that gently drifts along._

Eren flopped ungracefully to the ground after exiting his Titan.

_“Grow some muscles, boy,” was all Kruger said._

He groaned.

_You’re there, but for some reason, I can’t reach you._

“ _Hah_? Are you suicidal?”

Eren glared at Jean. “Maybe,” he snapped.

Jean glared back at the smaller boy. “Go die, for all I care but stop pulling in others,” he said.

_“He’s talking about Mikasa.”_

_“Poor boy.”_

Eren abruptly stood up, his utensils clattering on to the table. “Better die than be a coward,” he bit out.

“At least I’m thinking of my future unlike you!”

“Say that again! I _dare_ you!”

And somehow… somehow… the typical fight turned into something else. 

Armin blinked as he saw Eren’s expression. The eyes were slowly turning amber as the two boys continued to fight and it wasn’t long before the brunet shot his hand out, grabbing the two-toned boy’s wrist, and twisting around to use a technique he saw Annie teaching him earlier that day.

The whole room was silent as Jean landed a few meters away from Eren.

Reiner and Bertolt glanced at Annie, their eyes asking her a silent question. In return, Annie simply looked away from the two boys and the scene, hiding her smile.

_“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Maria yelled triumphantly._

_Grisha asked, “Did you need to let go and fling him away, Eren?”_

_“He’s learning,” said Uri._

_You, who’s like a dream is a butterfly to me._

_“Kick him in the face, Eren! Protect my sister’s chastity!”_

Eren did. 

With unbelievable flexibility, Eren kneed Reiner in the head and flung him away.

Ymir--the brunet Ymir gave him a hands-up.

-

_“That girl can marry my sister if she wants. I don’t mind.”_

So Eren and brunet-Ymir began a tentative friendship. Eren pushed for Ymir and Krista--Historia--’s relationship, and Ymir let Eren protect Krista. And if she saw the silver-ish blue eyes instead of the usual green, she never mentioned _it._

_The small pieces guttered down darkly._

_“That disgusting creature! Eren! Go kill him!”_

_“Frieda, your language!”_

_“Don’t patronize me, Uncle! Kill those bandits, Eren!”_

_“You’re his father,” said Kruger. “Didn’t you raise him to not kill?”_

_Grisha groaned. “I can never stop him from doing anything.”_

So, when Krista was kidnapped, Eren was at the front of the group, a knife in his hands as he sped forwards. His eyes weren’t the silver-ish blue hue when Frieda was influencing him and his movements were like the usual Eren. Still, it never stopped him from rushing to rescue her, moving first and foremost instead of thinking.

_From my heart, a barren noise._

Mikasa stared at the carnage before her, seemingly unaffected by the figure standing in the middle--Eren. Behind her, Armin faltered midstep, and Marco was definitely retching. On the side was Krista with her eyes closed and hands covering her ears. She seemed uninjured, and not a single drop of blood had gotten onto her clothes.

Jean gulped. “H-he did this?”

The others had gotten Krista away from the carnage, turning the opposite way before gently pulling her hands away from her ears. Krista blinked, stumbling over a few steps before she paused. Her head was in the middle of turning to the slaughter when Armin pulled her face forwards.

“Krista,” Armin whispered. He stared straight at the blonde girl, his eyes avoiding to look at the scene behind her. “No matter what, _don’t look back_.”

Mikasa glanced at Armin, her gaze only lingering on the short boy for a second before turning back to move forwards. She deftly moved, her feet avoiding the puddles that grew, stopping when she reached Eren. Her hands shot forwards, grabbing Eren’s face to snap him out of his reverie.

She began, “Eren. They’re dead, so let’s r-” grey eyes widened and her voice froze midspeech. A soft whimper left her mouth as unfamiliar eyes stared back. She whispered, “...Eren?”

The eyes that stared back weren’t Eren’s. They weren’t green. They weren’t amber. They were…

Iridescent.

Specks of blue, green, yellow, and red surrounded the silver iris, and they certainly _glowed_ in the dim forest. 

“Eren?” Mikasa repeated. “Eren? _Eren?”_

The brunet suddenly jerked, letting out a yelp before slipping, no doubt falling into the heaps of corpses if it wasn’t for Mikasa’s intervention. He blinked several times before turning to his adopted-sister, confused at the vibrating arms that held his frame--oh. They weren’t vibrating.

Eren said, “Mikasa, what _-oomph-”_

Mikasa had been trembling when she held Eren. Not vibrating.

“Eren, Eren, Eren, Eren, _Eren_!”

Wheezing, Eren sucked in a breath as the girl loosened her grip, savoring the air that entered his lungs. Finally, he asked, “What happened?”

Mikasa stared at Eren as if he would disappear at any moment. Her eyes were wide and her mouth shook, slowly opening for her explanation.

“Your eyes,” she whispered. “They-they weren’t Eren’s.”

Eren’s hand hovered over his eyes. “My… eyes?”

Mikasa nodded. “You were acting like-like you were in a trance,” she explained. 

_I don’t know if this is a reality or a dream._

_“It’s strange,” said Uri. “The state you were in--the trance--is unheard of.”_

_Kruger hummed. “All the predecessors, or the ones who agreed to speak with me, agreed that this is strange,” there was a brief pause. “It’s not something to accept with a warm welcome.”_

_Uri’s father let out a sound of agreement._

_“Sorry,” Frieda apologized. “If I hadn’t willed you to kill those… those men.”_

Eren couldn’t find himself to feel angry at the girl in his mind.

_My Kafka on the shore, don’t go to the woods over there._

Jean glared at Eren, cursing whatever god there was at the undeniable fact that Eren. Was. In. Second. Before Annie, Reiner, and any trainee save for Mikasa, Eren placed second. And yet, the brunet was determined to join the survey corps.

He wanted to scream.

Throw something at him.

 _Anything_.

_Will you stay by my side, and will you promise me?_

Eren stared sheepishly at the table, ducking his head in embarrassment with every clap he got on the back.

_“I’m proud of you,” said Grisha warmly._

_“You had some cheats, but not bad,” Maria hummed._

_“Some?” Frieda repeated. She let out a laugh, only stopping to say, “He has generations worth of fighting memories. That’s not_ some _.”_

_If I let go of your hand, you’ll fly away and break._

“Ymir! Guess what!” was the first thing Eren said when he entered the Paths. He skidded in front of the blonde girl, mindful to not kick any sand at her or her creations. “I placed second!”

The blonde paused in her building, looking up to give him a bright smile. It wasn’t the usual smile, small and reserved, but a full _smile_ , that made butterflies grow in Eren’s stomach.

Eren scratched his neck and distantly felt his ears turn red at the smile. He crouched down and said, “I had a lot of cheats--from the predecessors, you know--and I know that I wouldn't have placed that high without them, but I wanted to think that some, _some of it_ was from my own ability-” he stopped.

Ymir had put her hand over Eren’s and she shook her head. As if sending a mental message, Eren understood what she had said. 

_“It was your ability.”_

_Will you stop time?_

When the Colossal Titan appeared, Eren was the first to react.

_One of them yelled, “Wait, Eren--”_

But it was too late.

The gate was kicked open.

And the Titan disappeared in the steam like all those years ago.

Eren cursed, hiding his steaming burns from the other members of the 104th Trainee Corps.

Bertolt let out a sigh of relief, the feeling of the blades on his neck still fresh.

_As though it hadn’t happened._

_“Jump! Abnormal below you!”_

Eren did so, throwing his legs out of harm's way and using gas--more than he should--to push himself up and forwards, _barely_ missing the Titan that was sure to have eaten his leg had he not heard the other’s voices.

_“Focus, Eren!” Kruger snapped, uncharacteristically angry. “You may be a Titan, but you’re also a_ human _. Don’t let anyone be suspicious of you.”_

When Armin flew towards him, pale and shaking as he explained the deaths of the other members of their group, there was no time for regret pushing Armin away, even if it injured him, so that Eren would get swallowed instead.

_I’m scared I’ll lose you._

His memories were hazy.

Eren blinked at the familiar surrounding.

“Ymir?” he whispered. “What am I doing here? Wasn’t I…” wait.

What was he doing again?

The blonde girl smiled at him, pointing at the sand sculpture before her, and Eren cracked a smile. He crouched down and began to build, all previous memories forgotten.

He built. 

He built.

Were his wrists getting heavy? He never noticed.

So he ignored the pain and continued to build.

He never noticed that Ymir had stopped building and had opted to stand in front of him instead. Maybe he did, but why would he need to know? All he needed to do was to continue to build…

His hands briefly stopped at his sculpture.

Small head, lazy eyes, potbelly, thin arms, this… this was a- what was it again?

_A gigantic hand pushed the rocky remains to the side and pulled the body underneath upwards…_

_The body kicked, and their arms hit the giant’s hands, desperately trying to escape._

_Blood._

Eren shook his head. 

And continued to build.

_You’re so beautiful that I’m scared._

“I’m sorry.”

Eren froze, mid sculpting. He let out a breath of awe when he realized the source of the voice. He whispered, “Ymir?”

Her voice was as delicate as her hands, if not a little rough, but he summed it up as the lack of use. 

Ymir took Eren’s hand into hers and for the first time, Eren saw the chains that wrapped around his wrist. The blonde girl’s hand trembled as she pulled his tanned ones closer to her body.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated.

Eren smiled. “What are you sorry for?” He asked.

Ymir shook her head and showed her wrists instead. They were chafed and the signs of chains were unmistakable… but if her chains were gone and there were chains on Eren, then-

“I am free,” Ymir whispered. “But there needs to be a god. A slave.”

“A god?”

_Like a butterfly…_

The first god was a common child. 

He lived a normal life and grew to be a normal kid. However, he never grew to be a normal adult. Instead, the kid turned into a slave and the slave turned into a god.

The god was forced to cultivate the lands, kill the enemy, and render the others dead. Tired and withered without a place of escape, the god became nothing but bones, slipping into eternal slumber under the largest tree.

The second god was a slave.

Always a slave, she was blamed for freeing a pig. Mocked by her master, she fell into the large tree and in the moment of weakness, the slumbering god woke, transferring the chains on his wrist to hers. 

She was forced to cultivate the withered lands the first god left, and she was forced to oppress the enemy side until her death. At least she had a place of escape under the largest tree. Still, slumber seemed far away. Instead, she continued to build, remaining a slave for 2,000 years until she saw the boy.

The third god was a boy.

Chained by the fate the second god created, the boy remained ignorant of the true words behind his speech.

_“You’re free_.”

Still, the second god remained to be the god even then, choosing to stay as a slave to keep the boy company.

Not the other way around.

_Just like a butterfly…_

_“Eren.”_

_“Eren…”_

_“Eren!”_

**_“Eren.”_ **

_You’re just like a butterfly._

His mind was quiet.

Eren couldn’t find himself to be angry at Ymir. 

Instead, he stared dully at his wrist, free of the chains physically, but not mentally.

“Eren, are you sure?”

Blinking away his thoughts, the brunet turned to Mikasa, cocking his head in confusion at her words. He said, “What do you mean?”

The ebony-haired girl frowned at him and crossed her arms to her chest. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t--”

“I need to.” He turned to Mikasa and gave her a shaky smile. “Don’t worry about me.”

It was his first job after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> Ymir had been right. A god was a slave. 
> 
> Eren stared at the ocean with dull amber eyes, apathetic as he felt the world rearrange itself. Soon, Titans would be nothing but a legend and from there, he would build upon.
> 
> After all, a god has to start with a blank slate.
> 
> The world has to become blank.
> 
> And so does the god.
> 
> -
> 
> I was juggling the idea of this 'god' thing for a while, and I finally pushed it out, only to realize that I hadn't thought much of the 'god' part. Still, here's a small... information bit?
> 
> \+ Eren is a slave to the new world  
> \+ the new world is the present (modern) world  
> \+ he sees all his friends who reincarnated and wishes that he didn't remember anything  
> \+ "his mind was quiet" means that Eren can't hear Frieda, Uri, Kruger, Grisha, etc's voices anymore
> 
> I really wanted to write this all--and I mean all as in... all the way to the rumbling, but I already exhausted my imaginative ability on this story.
> 
> The lyrics inserted in the story is "Butterfly" by BTS but an English translation instead. I just loved how sad the lyrics were and I found myself inserting it.


End file.
